ness and using lime if the soil is acid; if you don't see the importance 

 of having a well-drained, sloping field, don't attempt to grow alfalfa. 

 You will have better luck with timothy at least you will waste 

 less and probably will make more money with timothy. 



Good seed, lime, inoculation, drainage and a reasonably fertile soil 

 with a porous subsoil make a square deal for alfalfa. 



I have heard many discussions of methods of growing alfalfa. 

 Everybody seems to have a different scheme. One claims it is best 

 started with a nurse crop. Another says it should be planted alone 

 in June. Still others cry: "Let Jack Frost do it! Seed your al- 

 falfa in the early spring on frozen ground." I am going to set forth 



Fig. 18. A Prosperous Farm. 



Fine farm homes, big barns and herds of pure bred livestock follow 

 the pathway of alfalfa's growth in Wisconsin. 



in this article one general principle in growing alfalfa anywhere, 

 together with a few necessary details. The details are the methods, 

 The important principle is: 



See that your soil conditions are right! 



Limestone Maps the Alfalfa Area 



Make your soil conditions right and you will have success. I 

 don't care what method you use provided' it comes within the scope 

 of reasonable farm practice. Money is squandered in trying to 

 grow alfalfa on soil that is not naturally alfalfa soil, without liming, 

 inoculating and supplying the crop with its natural requirements. 



When I hear a talk on growing alfalfa in the Middle West or the 

 East I applaud most enthusiastically if the speaker spends three- 

 quarters of his time on lime, inoculation and good drainage, and 

 the rest of the time on methods. 



After considerable experience and travel I have come to believe 

 that the greatest cultural factor in growing alfalfa in those sections 

 where it is not a general crop is the use of lime. Alfalfa is a lime- 

 loving plant more so than any other farm crop. Four tons of al- 

 falfa remove twenty times as much calcium lime from the soil 

 as the straw and grain of a thirty-bushel wheat crop. A ton of al- 

 falfa hay contains nearly a hundred pounds of lime! 



Limestone has mapped the great alfalfa areas of the United States. 

 It has figured most prominently in the historical development and 

 growth of the crop in this country. Alfalfa was first introduced 



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